I'm Your Friend After All
by LoveKiraSen
Summary: Chuya is woken up in the middle of the night with an invitation to witness Dazai's death by an old friend of Odasaku, who thinks Dazai is responsible for Oda's death, and that Chuya is Dazai's best friend. He couldn't have been more delusional. Chuya goes anyway to take a selfie with Dazai's corpse and realizes two things .He has always known Dazai the best and He still hates him.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER - 1**

**CAPITAL OF ITALY ?.. RUSSIA.**

When he found his own ringtone an unbearable cacaphony, an effect of sleep deprivation, he half contemplated smashing the device against the wall. Tomorrow morning he'd just buy a new one.

But then again, for the sole reason that his subordinates could be lying in shackles somewhere, or for the fact that, that dumbass Akutagawa was lying on his death bed after pulling some stupid solo stunt, he painfully put sleep away, and venomously warned into the receiver.

"You all better be dying somewhere. If you aren't, then make sure you are all dying before I get there, otherwise you are all dead."

"Chuya." a strangled whisper came in reply, and the Port Mafia executive immediately cut his phone in favor of sleep.

It was that idiot. Huh ! He was probably dying in a ditch somewhere. All's well and good !

A mere five seconds passed, before Nakahara Chuya shot up from his bed, and then cursing every God out there, threw himself out of bed to get ready.

Screw Dazai. If he was messing around this time, Chuya would definitely kill him, he grabbed his knife from underneath the pillow, with every intention of plunging it into that diabolical bastard, should the situation require it, and stepped out into the cold air of the night.

He hit redial on what was supposedly Dazai's new number, not that he ever bothered to know Dazai's old number, to compare. He had freaking thrown a party when that moron left, and had consequently deleted his number too.

He could here an annoying ring, and it went straight to voicemail "Helloooo! You've reached _me_, obviously. So just leave a message, I'll get back to you if my suicide is unsucessful."

Biting his teeth furiously, Chuya questioned himself for the millionth time, if there was any logic in going to save that idiot. Why would he go ? After all the Armed Detective Agency was his "_home_"

He couldn't help but cringe at the corny sentimentality, Dazai had suddenly acquired. The moron didn't ofcourse declare it with a trumpet and a parade, but he might as well, done it, considering the number of uncharacteristic things he had done in the name of his dear Agency.

So yeah, they would save him.

Chuya was about to turn around and go back into his house, but the idea that Dazai called him, so pathetically, had his brains churning. Why did Dazai call him, and not the agency ?. Yes, could be an act to annoy him, but then Dazai could have done it earlier. There was not a peep from the man, when he left the mafia. And if Chuya's grasp of the situation was correct, Dazai hated the mafia, and had wanted nothing to do with it. So, calling Chuya out in the middle of a winter night to prank him was an unlikely possibility.

So the only thing that remained was the option of a trap.

Diabolical as he was Dazai would never do cheap tricks as this to lure his former partner into a trap. It would be something more infuriating.

So having made up his mind to gain satisfaction in the form of seeing Dazai's pathetic self he set out, albeit a little reluctantly, into the cold air, phoning his non-mafia hacker contact to track Dazai's phone.

The girl a, fourteen year old, was a master hacker, and given a few years, Chuya would probably recruit her into the mafia. His results came in the form of a location- Warehouse district, south.

He contemplated on informing the Agency that their suicidal maniac was missing,and then let them handle the rest, but why would Dazai waste his final breath, assuming that's what it was, calling his name, than his pet prodigy, or new partner.

Only one way to find out.

* * *

Warehouse district south had a nice touch to it. Nice high beams, lot of carbon-monooxide, chemicals of all kinds, all recepies to a peaceful suicide. Alas ! If only there was a beautiful woman next to him.

A stinging pain, and a groggy brain reminded him of his current position. After today, it wouldn't matter to him if there was a pretty woman, or chemicals for suicide, after all he was lying in a pool of his own blood, which in a beautiful manner, seemed to surround him.

He wasn't making any sense now.

His call to Chuya, had nothenless been effective. The red head would probably be on his way here, to hear Dazai's last words, and take a selfie and then post it in the Mafia group. His distaste of having Chuya be the last face to see before his death, ofcourse didn't bode well with him, so he optioned, on closing his tired eyes. Who knew that would be a big mistake ?

He felt like he had been hit by a freight train, when a boot made contact to his injured side, and he went flying a few feet away from the company of his blood, and his phone which lay in his former pool of blood.

"You don't get to sleep. No you don't. I'm not done with you yet !"

Not this again.

"Yeah, yeah." Dazai more or less slurred. "I know."

"Are you looking down on me ?" The massive human being in front of him dangerously asked.

"Uh ? Who ? Me ?" Dazai asked, still in pain, yet unable to control the laugh he had been holding in.

"You jerk !" Kick. "I'll kill you !" Kick. kick. Kick.

Dazai wanted to correct the man, and tell him he had already half suceeded. After all it was december and all, and he had stopped shivering a long time ago, and he for some reason was seeing Odasaku, shaking his head disappointedly, as if Dazai had told him the capital of Italy was Russia.

"Yeah right. So what do you want ?" Dazai asked, his voice half strangled, trying to fight the human instinct of going to sleep, and getting another kick.

"What do I want ? What do I want ?!" maniacal laughter followed, before he continued "I want you to feel the same pain Oda did when he died." Then taking hold of Dazai's bloody trench coat collar, he dragged him, and threw him so that he was lounging, definitely not voulntarily against a hard box, or wall or whatever it was, with this man's boot pressed against his adam's apple, choking him.

"Trash like you, musn't be alive ! Trash like you, shouldn't have even been born ! Oda all he wanted to do was write a book, and you betrayed him. It's not fair, it's not fair that a sorry excuse for a human being like you gets to live, and he dies. Those children didn't deserve to die either ! And it's all You !"

Kick to the face.

Damn that was some kick ! Dazai was sure this guy would rival Chuya in his kicks.

"Yeah, yeah. Never denied it. It's all me." Dazai chuckled humorlessly, and enticing a rageful action from the man in front of him.

Kick to his head.

Ouch ! That hurt too.

"You piece of trash !"

"Newsflash ! He died with a bullet !" Dazai mentioned unnecessarily, and Odasaku who seemed to be witnessing all this, seemed to shake his head, as if to say _"Shut your trap, you little twit." _

"Huh ? I betrayed him, and he died with a bullet !" Dazai cheerily slurred, his head spinning for some reason, and blurring the next kick that came.

This one made him cough up blood, and he fell onto his side, only to get roughened to sitting position back again by the man, Odasaku's friend, and choked to death.

"I'll put a bullet in you. I'll do it. I'll kill you." And with one more kick, he left Dazai choking, gasping, and heaving all at the same time.

"My, my, your friend is quite violent, my man." he said to Odasaku, who now had a flat look on his face. _You brought this on yourself. Deal with it. _it translated.


	2. 40000 yen to Charity

CHAPTER 2

40,000 YEN TO CHARITY

Nakahara Chuya, finally reached the Warehouse district. Gloved hands casually placed within his coat pockets, and shawl around his neck, and if the situation weren't so damn confusing he'd be tempted to whistle a good tune, despite the cold and the snow.

He strolled along, because it wasn't like he was obligated to save that Dazai. If in the end, it was a corpse he got, he was fine with that too. However, it would be a shame if he didn't know why Dazai had called him instead of his Agency members.

It simply couldn't be helped. Dazai invoked the feeling of curiosity in almost everyone he came into contact, and Chuya being, his former partner and all, found it quite insulting that while that dog knew all the right nerves to hit, his mind drew a total blank when it came to Dazai. The dude was a living personification of the word Enigma.

So he set about to solve atleast one mystery in the long list of enigmatic actions. And for that Dazai needed to atleast have his final breath saved.

In warehouse no. 23, a mighty good distance away from where Chuya stood, it's occupant was reliving painfully the location's significance. Dazai didn't want to admit it, but the day he lost Odasaku, was the day he lost someone who understood him. Someone who gave him a smack on his forehead when he did or said something stupid. Which most of the time was intentional ofcourse just to cite an annoyance out of the other.

Now looking at his friend who sat there, with a non-chalant look in his eyes, Dazai said "What ? Wanna smack me ? Well, you gotta get to the land of the living. Oh, wait, you're dead you can't do that." And then he laughed as if he had made the joke of the century.

He figured the reason Oda, was so non-chalant was because he already knew, he had gotten a ticket to where his dear friend was, and he being the poster boy of patience was content in waiting for Dazai to get there, whenever he wanted and then give the younger man, a earful when he did get there.

"Gee, clever aren't you ?" Dazai grinned, and then winced immediately when the side of his face, and his rib hurt badly.

Damn!

"A double suicide, can't be done alone. It has to be double.." He hummed quietly. Wait, were those the right words ? It seemed a bit off the original for him. But then again everything was.

His huge captor, who had the gift of creating any object as long as it was in his memory out of anything, was preparing a master plan. The plan was this-

Avenge Odasaku. And of course Dazai being his close friend, agreed to help. Which landed in his current situation. Did he regret it ? Nope. Not one bit.

However, his plan didn't end there. Make one of Dazai's friends feel the same pain, Mr. Captor did when Oda died.

Now, this little part Dazai couldn't do. Few years ago he didn't have friends, that is unless of course you didn't count the human form of the phantom that he seemed to see.

Ango would probably visit his grave five years once, and place a boquet of his least favourite flower, and Chuya would probably arrive there to topple his coffin and pour '89 wine on his headstone, as a celeberatory measure. The boss, would come there with his little girl, and then say a dull 'May your soul rest in peace.' , and he, Osamu Dazai, unbothered by any of this, would be enjoying his decked out stay in hell, by playing tag, with underworld's mascot, the three headed dog.

Now, things were different. If Atsushi, or Kunikida, or anyone from the Agency were to see him dying he had no doubt they would drag hell from above and create chaos. He didn't want that for Oda's friend.

So, as his captive had conveniently not known of his change to the Agency he used his granted phone call to call his least favorite person -Nakahara Chuya to witness his death, and if possible shed a few crocodile tears, to express his unconsolable grief, and then go ahead and throw a party.

And then the rest Chuya would know what to do.

Ow !

A slam to the head, had him hitting the concrete floor so hard, he was surprised his brains hadn't spilled out. A long beep, seemed to settle itself in his ears, and he found trouble hearing and seeing what was going on.

When the ringing in his ears, and his vision cleared a bit he saw his captor, holding a gun.

"Look at me you trash !"

Not just any gun. To be accurate, it was Oda's gun down to the smallest detail. Man, this dude's ability was kicker.

Dazai gave the dude a cheery grin, and then without hesitation the man had his gun pressed against Dazai's chest.

"Die !" he said, and pulled the trigger.

Dazai had never been shot this accurately before, and he had to admit the sensation wasn't pleasing. He froze for a second before he felt his dead weight of a body, tilting towards the...flo..or, and he blacked out, a serene smile on his face.

Just the way it was when Odasaku died.

Chuya heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot, and his lingering doubts of a prank immediately vanished. Running at full speed he made it to the general location where he thought it came from. Standing in front of warehouse 18, he looked around, before expertly drawing out two daggers from his sleeve and twirling it around.

He heard one more gun shot in succession, and he got closer to it's location, when he heard another one.

It didn't take him long to figure it out. Whoever it was expected him to come, and the person was definitely not Dazai, and he was giving Chuya major hints regarding the location.

He was near Warehouse 20 when he heard the next gunshot.

"Huh !" Chuya smirked "Fine you bastard, I'm coming to swing my fist in your face."

Then with _For the tainted sorrow _in action he took off and blasting through the roof of warehouse 23 landed right behind the man who held a gun high in the air.

"Bastard, just who the hell do you think you are ?" His opponent didn't reply, but gave Chuya a satisfactory sight to see.

Two pools of blood existed on the concrete. One almost dried up, and in another lay Dazai, unconscious, bloodied, beaten, and barely breathing. But something disturbed Chuya's enjoyment in what he was seeing. That vile manipulative bastard's face. An eerie, calm peaceful smile.

Chuya had never seen Dazai smile before. Smirk, yes. Laugh like an idiot, yes. Grin, yes. Those goofy, ridiculous expressions, yes. Smile, never. And to find something like that on his more or less corpse self was disturbing. That bastard ! He was probably alive, waiting for Chuya to finish this jerk off, and then to get up, and -

Shaking Chuya's attention came a loud laugh that echoed. "Nakahara Chuya, partner of this piece of trash. Fellow executive of the Port Mafia."

"Huh ?" Chuya questioned, wondering if this guy knew he was sprouting out dated information.

"I am going to have you feel the pain of losing your friend, right here."

And at that Chuya burst out laughing.

The captor of course didn't appreciate, being taken lightly, and let two shots ring deadly close to Dazai, which of course Chuya didn't mind. After all Dazai was acting out his big play.

Composing himself to ask the question posed a great difficulty "Where.. the hell .. did you get that idea ?" he asked gasping for breaths, and drying the tears at the corner of his eyes.

"Shut Up !" the man said to Chuya who was clutching his stomach and trying not to laugh if only to entertain this man for awhile.

"You are here to watch him die. Pretending otherwise isn't going to fool me. I know all about you two. Double black. Masters of Destruction. "

"So," Chuya cut him off "You are going to kill him off, and make me single black, in revenge for something we did to you. Dude you really need to get your information straight. If he dies I'll throw a freaking party, and donate 40,000 yen to charity."

"NONSENSE !" The man roared. "I'll make you both feel the pain we felt !"

"This is getting borring !" Chuya declared, and before the man could even begin to comprehend he was flying in the air to the other end. Chuya remained, his coat discarded, on the floor, felxing his neck and wrists.

"Pain ? I'll teach you pain !" He landed another punch on the man's face, before doing a roundhouse and smashing the man's head onto the concrete. And with every punch Chuya landed, a gruesome truth began to reveal itself. Though this man didn't particularly suck at fighting, someone like this dude couldn't have managed put someone like Dazai down.

Chuya took a moment to look back and see Dazai's pathetic, totally selfie worthy form, and that moment of distraction had his lip cracked from an incoming punch. It didn't faze the top martial artist of the Port Mafia one bit. He kneed the man in the stomach before elbowing him in the back, and then dodging every single effort this man threw at putting him down.

When Chuya had him totally ready to be chucked to the land of the dead or atleast somehwere near, the unexpected happened. The man in front of him, ripped a piece of concrete and in front of Chuya's eyes, it turned into a high class mechanical gun.

Chuya's eyes landed on Dazai. There was no way, no way in freaking hell !

A gifted, getting the best of Dazai ? Impossible.

Now that he was closer to Dazai, Chuya could get a better look at him, and none of the injuries seemed fake. Hell there was even a bullet injury on the right side of Dazai's chest.

"You think you can win me " the man said, while Chuya who seemed to have finally smelt something off with this situation, put together various pieces that didn't add up.

"You," he growled looking at Dazai's captor "Why do you want to kill him ?"

Dazai's captor liked the sudden turn of events. Finally there was this seriousness in the Port Mafia executive. His retribution was at it's pinnacle.

"To make him feel, the pain, he did when he died."

"He ?" Chuya questioned.

"Yes, this traitor is finally going to die, for killing him."

"Who the hell is this guy ?" Chuya shouted, patience having never been one of his strong suits.

"Odasaku."

And that explained everything.


	3. Ruin a Perfect Selfie

CHAPTER 3

RUINING A PERFECT SELFIE

Oda Sakunosuke. He was a weird fellow in Port Mafia. Refused to kill anyone with his gun. Spent friday nights at the Lupin bar, along with Dazai and Ango the traitor. It was a reknown fact that if he hadn't been the obsessive non-killer that he was he could have risen to the ranks of an executive as if it was child's play.

Dazai left the mafia after he died. In the middle of a mission. One moment he was there leading it , and the next moment he was gone. Done with the mafia way of life. And it was for that person he always held high regard for. Someone, Dazai regarded a friend, and that bastard didn't have that word in his dictionary back then. Someone whom he called Odasaku.

Guess after this, he knew the real reason why he was here. He knew the reason why Dazai finally smiled.

"You bastard, who are you doing this for ?" Chuya muttered, a feral rage possessing him the more he thought of what happened to Dazai.

Odasaku died, but it was definitely not because of Dazai.

And may hell and heaven all be damned, if he was going to let Dazai die this way.

"No."

"Yes. I am going to kill him." the man in front of him said, his eyes holding lust for blood, grinning joyously at what he was about to achieve.

"Didn't you hear me, you bastard, I said No." Chuya declared determinedly. The other man, stopped grinning, no doubt his human survival instincts, rather his sixth sense picking up something infernal on it's radar.

"Let me tell you something. If you choose to believe it, you are safe, if not you can rot in hell." venom seeping into every word, he spoke "Dazai did not betray Oda."

Silence weighed heavily on the two parties, before a scream of "NO !" sliced the heavy sir.

"Do you take me for a fool ? Do you think you can save your friend's life with a lie as lame as that ? Die !" the man yelled, madness clearly outlined in his actions, as he rapidly fired using his toy in the direction of Dazai.

When he stopped to take a look at his masterpiece, he saw all the bullets stunted in the air, engulfed by a red aura. The bullets fell, clinking to the floor, revealing the stone cold face of the person who had taken this thing as a joke mere minutes ago.

With eyes cold enough to freeze even the centre of the earth, and with a voice of steel " I, Nakahara Chuya, won't let Dazai die, shouldering the responsibility for the death of Oda Sakunosuke. If I do, then may heaven and hell damn me to the grantors of dark disgrace for eternity."

And finally the look, that the man wanted was on Chuya's face. The catch was he didn't realize it meant utter disaster. Chuya's power of gravity manipulation had all metal bars in the warehouse head for the man. The man whose ability was to create anything he had in my made those metal bars into smoke grenades to escape Chuya's line of vision.

"Tch !" annoyed Chuya looked around through the smoke, before realizing what this meant. Sure enough, when the smoke cleared, The man was now crouched, and held, an immensely bleeding, unconscious Dazai in front of him, with the gun aimed at Dazai's head. The rough movement was enough to disturb the Dazai from his peaceful sleep, and he ended up coughing blood.

Chuya looked aghast, and honestly he was surprised he managed to last this long. This raised another suspicion in Chuya. Had this jerk been waiting for this epic moment ?Did he blame himself that bad, that he wanted to die with a replica of Oda's gun ? The same way he had died.

Ofcourse it wasn't exactly similar, but ...Now honestly wasn't the time to thinking about it.

Dazai's blurred vision became clearer for a bit, and when he saw the person standing in front of him, he couldn't help but laugh, and slur, blood spilling out of the corners of his mouth as he did so "I'm gawnna...ruuiin your-perfec' selfie."

"Shut up ! If you can't make sense you dumb idiot." Chuya snapped.

"Odasaku, you haven't left yet ?" Dazai questioned surprised, and Chuya had to turn in the direction just to make sure. Well, ofcourse that idiot was hallucinating, blood loss, punctured lung, broken bones, hypothermia... It would be a surprise if he didn't.

"Shut up ! You don't get to say his name !" Dazai's captor roughly shook him, making him wince in pain before returning to laughing like a maniac.

Chuya had to resist the urge to follow the man's actions and deck Dazai. For once in his goddamned life, couldn't he act as fit the situation. He was a freaking captive, in the verge of death, and if he didn't get Dazai to the Agency's magical doctor, he could die.

For a reason that sent, Chuya's blood boiling to the nth degree.

"Now watch." the man ordered, and everything that happened afterward, Chuya acted purely on instinct.

The man was so sure of himself, and he wanted to watch Dazai die. He had the gun trained on Dazai, and he watched himself as he moved his finger to pull the trigger. He wanted to see the bullet pierce Dazai's skull. And he wanted Chuya to see Dazai turn lifeless.

Ha ! Like hell he would.

The second the man lowered his guard to fulfill his desire, was the moment, Chuya, dashed at inhuman speed, and used his control over gravitation to knock the man's balance. The gun fired and the bullet flew over Dazai's head.

Chuya caught Dazai before his former partner could hit the hard concrete.

Taking painful breaths, and asking for his suffering to end, was the only way Chuya could explain the look in Dazai's eyes. He smiled that eerie smile of his, as if inviting Chuya to do what he always wanted to do. It sent shivers down Chuya's spine.

"Pathetic ! " He spat "You're begging now ?"

"Who - 's - beg-" Dazai got cut off, when he coughed up another bout of blood.

"I'll kill you."

Chuya rolled his eyes. How cliche. From the corner of his eye, he could see the man struggling to get up.

His power taking the form of dangerous orb, shot out of his hand and he threw the man all the way to the other end of the ware house.

That should do it for now.

By the time he turned to Dazai, the man was already passed out in his arms.

"What kind of a twisted fate is this ?" Chuya muttered before taking his phone out, and calling the Agency.

It seemed as though Chuya had to give the Agency a lot more credit than he tended to give. His phone call had pierced through the chaos taking place in the agency headquarters over their missing member.

Kunikida, was the person to initiate the chaos. The long haired blonde, who very much did not usually care for his suicidal partner's whereabouts, was extremely troubled during the evening. Something about Dazai did not sit well with him.

The man usually had the annoying habit of turning Kunikida's ideals down, and the morning was no exception. As usual Atsushi was roared at to go find the bandage wasting maniac whom, Kunikida was sure, was floating down some river, or burried in some field.

When Atsushi came 3 hours later, than ordered, with a reluctant, whiny Dazai at tow, Kunikida roared his throat hoarse at Dazai's laziness, and obsessiveness to ruin Kunikida's plans.

Dazai simply laughed it off, and Kunikida fuming went back to his desk to finish the rest of his work. Yosano sensei, simply stated that, Kunikida should simply from now on add "Shouting at Dazai" to his schedule from now on.

Of course that didn't make him feel any better. Later during their tea break, Kunikida for some reason seemed possessed to ask Atsushi where exactly his partner was doing the day to which Atsushi replied "He was at his friend's grave."

While he had no former knowledge of Dazai's past life, visiting graves didn't seem like a thing Dazai would do. Also Dazai having been a former Port Mafia member, Kunikida found it even more astonishing that he happened to have friends during his life there.

His look must have said it all, because Atsushi then said "Dazai-san told me once, his friend gave him reason to quit the Port Mafia, and save lives."

This little piece of information struck a chord in Kunikida. The fact that, Dazai had been more comfortable sharing this piece of sensitive information to Atsushi and not he, his partner, made him feel highly in competent as his partner. Well, it shouldn't have come as a surprise, considering the fact Kunikida always took everything of Dazai for granted.

He always knew, the man would pull through no matter what. Had he unintentionally taken that trust to a whole new different level ?

This sudden change of perspective, had Kunikida observing Dazai more intently than anytime before. When Dazai, said good bye for the day, Kunikida who was contemplating any and every action Dazai took and hung on every word he said, found it hard to sleep in his room, without thinking there was something along the lines -

_'Was that goodbye normal ? There was something odd about it, wasn't there ?"_

_"Was he trying to tell us something else ? Did he just say at as see you later ?"_

_"Why was his face like that ? There was something odd about that .. yeah definitely odd."_

_"Is he okay ? Does today hold any special significance to that person ?" _

_"Should he go and check on him, just in case."_

_"nah ! He'll be fine...or maybe not. Yes.. yes this is a serious matter."_

And with that as his concluding thought, Kunikida, at 12:30 a.m found himself knocking on Dazai's door. No reply. With immense force, he pushed the door open, to find himself greeted by emptiness. Lying like a lone sore, on the middle of the tea table was a picture.

Dazai, he recognized, and Ango the representative of the Armed Association, and the only other person, he concluded was Dazai's friend.

This led Kunikida to have a wave of panic something he could not entirely explain. And uncharacteristically, he found himself worrying, which lead him to check the security cameras only to find, Dazai had not set foot inisde his house since dinner. Which then finally lead all members of the Armed detective agency to assemble at their HQ to listen to Kunikida rave on about how he thought Dazai could be in danger.

When finally Kunikida's added sugar and salt on how weird Dazai was, weaved a web of possible dangers in their mind, President Fukuzawa, ordered Ranpo to find Dazai. Just mere moments away from putting on his glasses, was when Chuya's phone call had them all jumping out of their skin.

"Hello." Kyouka answered.

"Get your sorry excuse of a doctor out here to the southern warehouse district, as quickly as possible. If you want Dazai to see the light of day that is. If you don't I'm just leaving him here." was Chuya's elegant greeting.

When Kyouka relayed the message, everyone's worst nightmare had just come true. Dazai had finally gotten himself in a danger that warranted Yosano-san.

Despite his earlier threat of leaving Dazai to rot, Chuya found himself working hard to keep, the vile devious bastard alive, and warm, by applying pressure on his various wounds. It didn't help that Dazai's annoying smile, urged him to punch the jerk.

"How long until the stupid doctor arrives here." Chuya muttered, seeing as Dazai was pale as a white sheet, and of course annoyingly calm at the sleep he was getting.

"Don't die like this, you bastard. I still have to kill you. You can't die like this." Chuya urged, shaking him, and simultaneously putting more pressure on the wound to get it to stop bleeding

"You, and that Odasaku, if you had some kind of deal, keep it. Don't die like this."

"Odasaku." came a faint whisper from the lips of the man lying on his death bed, and Chuya couldn't help but smirk humorlessly at the irony.


	4. Don't Want You Here

CHAPTER 4

DON'T WANT YOU HERE.

The Agency's doctor, finally made her appearance at long last. It was only ten minutes, and considering the distance it was a record time, but for Chuya it seemed like a millenium.

"About time." he growled to the doctor and a frantic Atsushi who was trailing behind her.

"Dazai-san !" the boy cried at Dazai's condition.

"Quick, Atsushi-kun, check his pulse and tell me."

Chuya who had already done all that cut through, just as Dazai was removed from his arms to the hard concrete, where the Doctor began working the magic he had only heard about. "It's terrible, but it's there. He also has a bullet lodged in his right lung I think. "

"What happened to Dazai-san ?" Atsushi cried, his eyes almost accusingly looking at Chuya.

"I'll gouge your eyes out kid, I saved that stupid maniac." Chuya informed. "Oh, and ask your friends to come, and take out the douche at the back. He's the one that did this to your precious Dazai-san."

"Atsushi-kun, get me the tweezers." Yosano-san ordered, and Atsushi scampered to get working, while Chuya looked on at the painfully slow rise and fall of Dazai's chest.

In a few minutes, Chuya had to entertain the questions of all the Agency members who arrived there, including their President.

"For the hundredth time, that bloody bastard called me. You think I don't have anything else to do than waltz around the city on a winter night." Chuya defended himself from Kunikida's interrogation.

In Kunikida's defense, calling a Port Mafia executive member, for help didn't make sense. Why not call him ? or Atsushi-kun ?

The man responsible, who was a beaten pulp, all credit to Chuya, didn't do much to alleviate his current suspect status. When Dazai woke up, he'd better thank Chuya. But then again, Chuya didn't think Dazai would thank him for ruining his plans for a peaceful death.

Finally, when Kunikida, decided that Dazai alone had answers to these questions, Chuya was left alone. Soon, the Agency's special ambulance, arrived to carry Dazai away, and Chuya watched with satisfaction that his heart was beating stronger than before.

When Chuya dragged himself to bed it was 5:00 a.m. He woke up to his phone ringing at 6:00 a.m cursing all the Gods again, he bit out a venomous "Speak, you rotten moron." without even looking at the caller ID.

"What happened to Dazai-san ?" came a gruff voice, which held uncharacteristic concern. Chuya scoffed. Only one person cared about Dazai in the mafia.

"He's dead." he groaned, and cut the phone. He'd have might as well kicked Akutagawa out of the Mafia calling him a useless toad.

Of course, about 3 hours later, he got a call from the boss himself "My, my, Chuya, what did you tell Akutagawa ?"

"Nothing he didn't want to know." Chuya flatly stated.

"Well, you better clean up this mess, because President Fukuzawa, is threatening to send Akutagawa in a matchbox."

"Like that's gonna happen."

"Well, he said we'd have to pay for the damages. I'm taking that out of your pay cheque."

That had Chuya up and out of his door, in the direction of the stupid Akutagawa, and that bloody Agency. He could imagine the boss chuckling now, as he sipped expensive Earl Grey.

When he did get there, Akutagawa whose eyes were red, no doubt from crying, which that punk didn't even try to deny, looked at Chuya as if he had, murdered Akutagawa's pet dog.

"Oh, please, grow up !" Chuya snapped. "Like your ex-superior is going to die that easily."

Akutagawa, simply shrugged, and muttered something, and after that, this unlikely duo found themselves by Dazai's bed.

"This has got to be some sick dude's idea of a sick joke." Chuya muttered, while Akutagawa, simply sniffed now and then.

For some reason Yosano-san had entrusted the recovery of Dazai into their hands. Akutagawa who probably didn't want to be called off, was called off, four hours later to do some job, and he left glaring daggers at Atsushi who had just come into the room with a jug and a glass of water for Dazai.

Chuya who was only too glad to aid Akutagawa in his mission was crushingly rejected when their boss, asked him to stay wherever he was.

Seriously ? Why was he an enemy, nursing Dazai ?

Anyway, sleep deprivation caught up to him, and Chuya slept on Dazai's cot, not bothering of the consequences should someone get blackmail material. He didn't know how long he had slept, but he was tired enough to sleep through the conversation Kunikida, and Atsushi had when they entered to check up on their friend.

You could say both were less than thrilled at what they saw.

"Hey, brat, why do you think Dazai, called him than calling us ?"

Atsushi shook his head somberly "I don't know." then breaking into a small smile he said "But Kunikida-san, I believe Dazai-san has a reason for whatever he does."

"Yeah, that he does, huh ?" Kunikida said, gazing at Dazai's still form, which was not supposed to be that way. Somewhere along the way, Dazai had lost that smile, and odd as it was, Kunikida couldn't be more grateful. He had never taken Dazai's suicide seriously. To see that Dazai, only genuinely smiled at death's door, meant Dazai didn't have a reason to live, and that scared Kunikida.

"Hey Atsushi-kun, have you ever seen Dazai smile before ?"

"Yeah, once." Atsushi replied.

And Kunikida was once again crushed at being an incompetent partner who had never seen Dazai smile. It was also possible that Atsushi having been saved by Dazai, shared a special bond with him, and vice versa. Well, whatever it was, as long as there was someone for Dazai.

They soon left the dynamic duo by themselves, and headed to complete the mounds of paper work, Dazai had accumulated, ever so kindly for them.

* * *

When he was finally able to feel within the dark abyss he was swimming in, the first thing he realized was his chest didn't feel like it was being ripped out. He wanted to call out the name he had been seeking. Asking that person to get him out of this confusion.

The person he so desperately wanted to guide him finally appeared.

"Odasaku!" Dazai called out happily, if he hadn't been drowning in a dark pool of whatever this was, he'd have hopped to give his old friend, a nice bone crushing hug.

Said friend however, looked critically at Dazai.

"Don't tell me you aren't happy to see me." Dazai pouted, before grinning and asking the older man to help him out of the pool.

"I can't." was his flat reply.

"There's gotta be some way."

"Odasaku, I've started helping people now." Dazai said, hoping to get a happy reaction from his friend.

"I know."

"Well then, how about you get me out of this pool, and we'll talk about that."

"Nope."

"Oh come on, don't be such a meanie."

"Get a hint, you moron. I don't want you here." Odasaku replied

"Why not ?"

"Well, for one I want to enjoy a you -free life here up in heaven. " Odasaku replied

"That's mean. Wait- did you say heaven ? Woah, someone got a golden ticket eh ?"

"Is that all you got from what I am saying."

"Well, tell me is there any way I can get one ?'

"No.'

"Oh please." Dazai whined like a kid who was denied halloween chocolates.

"Look at the people you've left behind. You think you'll go to heaven after a stunt like that ?" Odasaku snapped.

And for the first time Dazai got around to thinking how Kunikida and the rest of the Agency members were. Atsushi-kun for sure was bawling his eyes out. Did that kid deserve this ?

Definitely not.

"Finally !" Odasaku exclaimed "How thick is that skull anyway ? I mean how many times do you expect me to personally come and din some things into your head"

"Your friend." Dazai started.

"Say no more. He'll get through his own way."

"How would you know ?"

"Of course I would know, better than anyone."

"This is deja vu."

"Whatever man." Odasaku said waving his hand off handedly.

"So, you want me to leave ?" Dazai asked.

"Yeah."

"Alright."

"And don't come back till your atleast 90."

"Ha ! Wishful thinking !"

"I'll kick you out of heaven if you do."

"Hey, you can't do that."

"Watch me."

"Okay, okay, how do I get back, genius ?"

"Go with the water." Oda replied with a smile.

"This gooey stuff ? man, your world is twisted."

Odasaku just laughed, and Dazai smiled hearing that voice he thought, was lost forever.

"And Dazai ?"

Dazai turned to look at his dear friend.

"I'm proud of you."

"You better be." Dazai said, before letting the water take him under.


	5. I'm Your Friend Afterall

**CHAPTER FIVE**

**I'M YOUR FRIEND AFTERALL**

Chuya almost felt sorry for him. Dazai hadn't woken up, but for the past hour, the name Odasaku had been a constant whisper on his lips. His ex-partner had broken into a sweat, and Chuya took out his handkerchief to dab them away.

He couldn't believe he was doing this. But he wasn't about to play with Dazai's wishes either. If Dazai had kept that dark part of his life away from them, then, he would do the same.

Then suddenly all of a sudden, Dazai returned to being calm, and Chuya figured whatever night mare he was visiting was gone now. Had Odasaku really meant that much to this guy ?

Chuya couldn't believe it. Dazai hadn't bothered much about anyone. Why , the man had shot bullets into a dead person for fun, and Chuya had, had to forcefully stop Dazai in situations like those.

But now there was not a trace of that person. What he could see was, a person who missed his friend, and ardently blamed himself for it. Blamed himself so much he was willing to die without even putting a fight in the presence of someone who cared so much as he did for Odasaku.

Chuya was pulled out of his thoughts, when he slowly saw Dazai stirring.

His eyelids felt heavy, and Dazai was content to let it be that way, but he decided against it. He opened his eyes, and took his first good look at the world which had been without him for God knows how long. The moment his vision cleared he wished he hadn't, and shut his eyes again.

"Dear lord, why should you bestow such misery upon me ?" he croaked painfully, that even Chuya who was tempted to punch him, in the beginning could only pitifully resort to scoffing at the great Dazai's condition.

"Pathetic."

He then reached for Dazai's shoulder, and slowly helped the sorry dimwit, who was now coughing, into a safe sitting position. He then reached for the glass on the bed side table and slowly urged Dazai to sip some water.

Dazai was very well, aware he couldn't move a finger, distasteful as it maybe he let Chuya help him, while he wondered where his friends were. As if reading his mind Chuya answered

"Your dear friends are finishing all the paper work you left for them. And here I was thinking you made the phenomenal change into a basket case."

Dazai chuckled, before tiredly sighing, and staring at the wall dazedly.

Silence ensued, and the two had no qualms about until Dazai broke it

"Thank you."

"You already knew I was going to come." Chuya muttered, annoyed.

"Not for that."

Chuuya just merely nodded, before scoffing and then saying "You're an idiot, Dazai."

"Maybe."

"Maybe, my foot ! What did you have in mind after you died ? You thought your little Agency peers would have let it slide ? They hounded me even though I was the one that saved your sorry self, you think they would've left that guy alive ?"

"You would've known what to do." Dazai whispered.

"Yeah, thrown a bloody party that's what." then Chuuya's eyes suddenly widened in realization.

"No Way !"

Dazai smiled.

"You wanted me to cover your death up as suicide ?"

"You always did know me the best." Dazai praised, and Chuuya wanted nothing more than to smack the dude's thirty two teeth off."

"You need to set your priorities straight."

"And you being here, Is that your boss's way of saying I'm sorry ?"

Chuuya simply looked away.

"Well, he did seem like he was worried about you." He muttered.

"Of course, without me you'd all be having a hard time."

"Zip it you pathetic loser." Chuuya ordered, before his eyes softened. "You, .." he hesitated, as Dazai held his gaze "You kept saying Odasaku's name."

Dazai smile was a humourless one.. "Ah, he kicked me out of heaven, refused to get me to heaven, told me I'd rot in hell and all. He's still a big meanie."

"Dazai !" Chuuya cut off warningly "Stop making a joke out of everything."

That stopped Dazai in his rant.

Chuuya then sighed "I honestly didn't think that guy affected you this much. You being you and all. I guess I was wrong. "

"What are you expecting ? An _it's okay_" Dazai asked, and Chuuya didn't let the bitterness in his voice pass. Good he was making progress.

"No. I'm asking you to let it all out, you idiot." Chuuya replied, as Dazai bitterly bit down on his lips. He wrapped his hands, albeit a little awkwardly around the suicidal maniac, his face resting on Chuuya's shoulder.

A silent tear made it's way down Dazai's face, and for once he didn't stop them coming. His shoulders shook, and a dam broke soaking Chuuya's shirt.

They had a weird relationship; Him and Chuuya. They hated each other, but we're also each other's best allies. Chuuya had always known him. He read his mind, and offered him a deal. A deal where no one would see him cry. He was after all Dazai Osamu.

"It wasn't your fault, man_. _No one saw that coming." Chuuya gently comforted him, and he hesitantly nodded trying to believe it was true.

And in the end when his former partner, released his embrace, there wasn't a sign at all. There wasn't a sign Dazai had cried.

Chuuya left to give the other Agency members the information that their dear friend had woken up, and no sooner did he finish that sentence, Atsushi had sprinted like the cat that he was followed by Kunikida, Kyouka, and the rest of them. He texted Akutagawa, that his dear ex- mentor was alright, before looking back into the room to see all of the Agency members fawning over him.

"Dazai-san, do you need more water ?" Atsushi pounced

"Dazai, does it hurt anywhere ? Kunikida pressed

"Dazai-san, shall I buy the crepe ?" asked the monotone Kyouka

"No, Kyouka-san, Dazai-san isn't supposed take any sweet things, until he's normal !" Atsushi protested.

"Then Dazai-san what about some tea on rice ?"

"That should do." Yosano-san nodded, checking Dazai's pulse and temperature.

"Then I'll go to the grocery store, and buy the items for Dazai-san's dinner." Kenji declared rushing off

"Dazai-san do you want us to make you some ginger tea now ?" the Tanizaki siblings asked.

"Lucky bastard." Chuuya finally muttered with a smile, seeing the scene unravel in front of him.

Dazai had found a family. Satisfied Chuuya walked away, giving a nod of acknowledgement in the direction of the President, who returned the favor.

The President like Mori knew the bond that they shared.

EPILOGUE-

Four more days passed, since Dazai woke up, and things were back to normal. He was still the annoying person who messed with Kunikida's schedule.

Kunikida still yelled at Atsushi and Dazai in the mornings, and Ranpo-san still spent his time eating snacks and working out murder cases.

Yosano-san was disappointed she didn't get to do anything because, Dazai-san was already in the brink of death. "Terrible loss ", she had woefully stated.

Today Kyouka, came up to Dazai, a very rare occurance, and very secretly showed something to Dazai. The content was in Atsushi's phone.

"Dazai-san, I thought you wouldn't want to pass up on an oppurtunity like this, so I took the liberty of recording it for you, for future counter measures."

Dazai's face, held a devilish grin, and he patted Kyouka's head.

In the Port Mafia's headquarters Chuuya was busy roughing up his subordinates.

"Get up you worthless jerks ! Put up a fight atleast, if you are going down !"

His phone pinged, indicating he had received a message and he opened it to check.

_1 message form Mackerel._

He scoffed distastefully.

He opened it, and waited for the image to load. What had that dimwit sent now ?

The image even had a title underneath.

_I am touched _ it read.

When the image finally loaded, Chuuya was stunned.

No way !

"You vile bastard !" he shouted "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU !"

Suffice it to say Chuuya was in a foul mood for weeks after that.

While Dazai grinned at the message he received.

"SON OF A JERK !"

He caught the eye of Kyouka-san and gave her a thumbs up, which she returned with a warm smile.

In the end Odasaku had been right. Being good was more beautiful. Saving lives was worth doing.

And more importantly he was able to live and do it with them. The members of the Armed Detective Agency. And in some twisted way Chuuya Nakahara.

How had Odasaku, known all of this ?

He was after all Dazai's friend.

Dedicated To

V&L

**A/N**

**For now it's over. I may choose to add a chapter or two again. As a sequel of sorts. Also, Thank you to all of you who have read, reviewed, followed or favourited this story. I am really happy if you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it.**


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